Electrical contractor fined £3000 for inadequate asbestos training

An electrical contractor has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to supply its employees with adequate information and training on asbestos.

Scriven Electrical Contractors from West Bromwich was fined £3000 under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The firm was also ordered to pay £2757 in costs for breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

The court heard that an electrician employed by Scriven installed three heat detectors and associated cabling in a commercial-sized kitchen and boiler room on premises in Smethwick.

The ceiling tiles contained 5-50% brown asbestos, but no asbestos awareness training was given by his employer prior to commencement of the work, despite a legal requirement.

HSE inspector John Healy said the firm “should have known of the dangers and the legal requirement to give sufficient training to protect employees from exposure to asbestos because 98% of their work involves the risk of encountering asbestos.”

Exposure to asbestos is the biggest single cause of work-related deaths, with around 4000 people a year dying from asbestos-related disease.